1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and apparatus for manufacturing non-woven fabric.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is well known to manufacture non-woven fabric by introducing fibrous material onto a support and then treating the fibrous material by means of high pressure liquid jets, typically water jets. This treatment causes the individual fibres to entangle with each other within the fibrous web and compacts the fibres to form a paper-like non-woven material. Such a method is known as "hydroentanglement" and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,706 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,308.
In hydroentanglement processes it is known for the liquid jets to be directed onto a fibrous web carried on a wire screen which is supported on a high open area cylindrical drum (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,722). A typical process path through hydroentanglement apparatus can involve a passage around a plurality of rollers and drums. A problem associated with such apparatus is the initial feed-through of the fibrous sheet, which can be extremely difficult to achieve and is typically accomplished manually.